Pin and rail assembly



March 10, 1970 ElZl HARADA 3,

PIN AND RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed April 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR March 10, 1970 EIZI HARADA 3,499,362

PIN AND RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed April 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

United States Patent 3,499,362 PIN AND RAIL ASSEMBLY Eizi Harada, Hamamatsu-shi, Japan, assignor to Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha, Hamamatsu-shi, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Apr. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 718,070 Claims priority, application Japan, Apr. 7, 1967, 42/ 22,222 Int. Cl. Gc 3/12 US. Cl. 84434 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pin and rail assembly included in the keyboard system of a piano comprises a metal rail having one channel or two parallel channels each of which is provided with two elongated clamping members (clampers) protruding all along the inner side Wall of the channel at the upper edge thereof, elongated wooden members disposed in the channel in a manner to be securely supported by the clampers and contacted with the bottom thereof, and a plurality of pins vertically and spatially disposed on the elongated wooden member.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a pin and rail assembly or keyframe assembly included in the keyboard system of a piano, and more particularly to a pin and rail assembly improved so as to keep the rail free from the effect of bending and torsion.

The prior art rails such as a balance rail and front rail of a piano were formed from sufiiciently dried wooden material, but were inevitably subject to the effect of bending and torsion caused by such factors as temperature and humidity prevailing where the piano was situated.

Furthermore, the prior art rails were required to be formed from a large one-piece block cut out of the master wooden material which was properly arranged in grains (having a uniform density) and free from knots so that considerable waste of material accompanied the preparation of the required block.

Summary of the invention An object of this invention is to provide a pin and rail assembly improved so as to keep the rail free from the effect of bending and torsion caused by the temperature and humidity, and permit the use of a relatively small one-piece block cut out of a master wooden material.

Therefore, in an arrangement of this invention, a pin and rail assembly comprises a metal rail having one channel or two parallel channels, an elongated wooden member disposed in the channel in a manner to be securely supported, and a plurality of pins vertically and spatially disposed on the elongated wooden member.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved pin and rail assembly so as to ensure an easy adjustable placement of the elongated wooden member in the channel.

Therefore, in another arrangement of this invention, a pin and rail assembly comprises a metal rail having one channel or two parallel channels each of which is provided with two elongated clamping members (clampers) protruding all along the inner side wall of the channel at the upper edge thereof, elongated wooden members disposed in the channel in a manner to be securely supported by the clampers and contacted with the bottom thereof, and a plurality of pins vertically and spatially disposed on the elongated wooden member.

Where the channeled rails involved in two sets of pin and rail assemblies are respectively employed either as a front or a balance rail included with a back rail in the 3,499,362 Patented Mar. 10, 1970 keyboard system, these rails preferably have a flange formed on the side wall thereof, so that they can be easily arranged in parallel by disposing a slat therebetween so as to bridge the flanges thereof.

Brief explanation of the drawings Detailed description of the invention Referring to FIG. 1, a pin and rail assembly includes a single channel-type metal rail 1 and an elongated wooden member or members 2 having a rectangular cross section. The metal rail 1 is provided with two elongated clampers 3 protruding all along the inner side wall of the channel 4 at the upper edge thereof. The wooden member 2 is forcefully inserted into the channel 4 through the interval between the clampers 3 so as to be securely supported by the clampers 3 and contacted with the bottom of the channel. A plurality of pins 5 are vertically and spatially disposed on the wooden member in two parallel rows. The pins in these row are arranged in a staggered relation to each other.

In this case, the wooden members may be disposed in a channel in series by the use of relatively small or short one-piece blocks cut out of the master wooden material.

FIG. 2 indicates a double channel-type metal rail 11, which has two parallel channels 14 each including two opposing clampers 13 formed all along the inner side wall thereof. The rail 11 further includes elongated wooden members 12 disposed in the channels. On the wooden member are vertically and spatially disposed a plurality of pins 15 in a row. The rail has protrusions 16 formed on the bottom thereof in a manner to extend all along the rail. The protrusions are partly cut off so as to form recesses 40 for receiving the end of a connecting plate or slat 17 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. The recesses 40 extend perpendicular to the protrusion so that the mutual lengthwise positional relations of the front rail 11a and the balance rail 11b are easily fixed by fitting the connecting plate 17 into the recesses. FIG. 3 indicates a key board system involving the pin and rail assemblies, key boards, only one of which is shown at a reference numeral 18, and a key bed 19 for carrying the rails. The rails 11 stand on the key bed 19 by the protrusions 16.

FIG. 5 shows the protrusions 16 and recesses 40 in more detail. The recesses 40 substantially correspond to the width of the slat 17 and receive same. The slat 17 may further be secured to rail 11b by means of screws 41 and 42 (or by equivalent protuberances) which pass through holes 43 and 44, respectively, in slat 17 and which are threadably received in holes 45 and 46, respectively in rail 11b. Rail 11a and slat 17 are similarly secured together.

Another method of securing slat 17 to rail 11b is to provide slat 17 with protrusions thereon which mate with, and are received by, corresponding holes in the bottom of rail 11b in the area defined by recesses 40. Then screws are passed through slat 17 and rail 11b to secure same together. The front rail and slat 17 may be similarly secured together.

' FIG. 4 indicates two sets of the pin and rail assemblies 20 wherein the channeled rails 21 involved in the assemblies are respectively provided with flanges 31, so that these rails 21 can be easily arranged in parallel to each other by disposing a slat 27 therebetween so as to bridge the flanges 31 thereof. Means for fixing the slat 27 to the flanges 31 may be a screw threaded member. Slats 17 of FIGS. 3 and are secured to the rail by means of protuberances 16 having recesses 40 while slat 27 of FIG. 4 is secured to the flange 31 formed on the rail. The rail of FIG. 4 does not have protuberances 16. To the bottom of the rail 21 is attached a soft sheet 32 such as a rubber or soft synthetic resinous sheet so as to absorb undesirable noises generated by the motion of the keyboard while the piano is played.

In the arrangement of the present invention, the back rail involved in the keyboard system is preferably fabricated from the same single channeled rail as is shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, all the rails may be made of aluminum or alloys thereof. Coating soft materials such as nylon on the key bed may serve the same purpose as attaching the soft sheet 32 to the bottom of the rail 21.

While the invention has been described in connection with some preferred embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited thereto and includes any modifications and alternations which fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A pin and rail assembly comprising:

an elongated wooden member having a plurality of spaced, vertically disposed pins thereon; and

a metal rail including at least one channel having side walls with elongated clamping members protruding all alongthe inner surfaces of said side walls at the upper edges thereof for urging against said elongated wooden member to secure said wooden member in place.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein said metal rail includes at least a second channel and at least a second elongated wooden member, said second channel having side walls with elongated clamping members protruding all along the inner surfaces of said side walls of said second channel at the upper edges thereof to urge against said second elongated wooden member to secure said second wooden member in place.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein said meal rail includes a protrusion formed on the under side thereof, said protrusion having at least one recess therein; and a slat extending substantially perpendicular to the length-wise direction of said rail and being received by said recess to locate the metal rail in a predetermined position with respect to said slat.

4. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein the length of said recess in the length-Wise direction of said rail substantially corresponds to the width of said slat.

5. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein said metal rail includes at least one hole therein in the area defined by said recess and wherein said slat includes at least one protuberance which is received by said hole for further securing said metal rail and said slat together.

6. An assembly according to claim 3 further comprising a screw engageable with said slat and rail for further securing said slat and rail together.

7. An assembly according to claim 3 comprising a pair of metal rails, each having a protrusion formed on the under side thereof, each of said protrusions having at least one recess therein, and a slat extending substantially perpendicular to the length-wise direction of said rails and being received by said recesses to fix the length-wise positional relationship of said two metal rails.

8. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein said protrusion runs substantially in the length-wise direction of said rail.

9. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein said metal rail includes a flange (31) formed on the side thereof and further comprising a slat (27) secured at one end to the flange of said metal rail for locating said metal rail in a predetermined position with respect to said slat.

10. An assembly according to claim 9 comprising a pair of metal rails, each having a flange formed on the side thereof, and a slat secured at one end to the flange of one of said metal rails and at the other end to the flange of the other said metal rails to fiX the length-Wise positional relationship of the two metal rails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 363,240 5/1887 Ivers 84430 1,148,085 7/1915 Goble 84-435 3,330,176 7/1967 Schwartz et a1. 84433 FOREIGN PATENTS 12,616 5/1901 Great Britain.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner JOHN F. GONZALES, Assistant Examiner 

